Vivian Rose Harrelson

Vivian Rose Harrelson died in the early morning of January 21st, 2019 at Valley Manor Care Center in Montrose, Colorado. She was 84 years old and generally very cranky. But this tells you nothing of who the real Vivian was.

It’s not important where she was born or where she went to school or who she married. Knowing those bits of information might help fill in the plot of her life, but they will tell you none of the story.

The real Vivian was the single mother who worked thankless retail jobs in a man’s world, never achieving equal footing with her male colleagues, but who never gave up because she had a son to support.

She was strong, to the point of stoicism, but would not hesitate to speak her mind when challenged. She suffered no one who would not tell the truth and had a work ethic that was second to none. If there was a job to be done, she would waste no time talking about it.

Vivian was a seeker after the wonders in life. Framed and hanging on the wall of her home for many years was one of her favorite quotes: “Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.”

Her failing health in the last few months of her life stifled her pursuit of the wonderous, but her suffering is over now. Her spirit is free.

She leaves behind her only son, who misses her greatly.